Maps and
even printouts of Google Maps directions became obsolete
when affordable global positioning systems (GPS) hit the market. But users in
the state of Washington are now questioning these devices after being led off
bridges and into unknown territories that are nowhere near their desired
destinations.

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, 623 collisions
occurred within the state from 2006 to 2010 due to GPS units/computers. Two of these collisions
were fatal.

Washington has had many GPS-related issues in the recent past. For
instance, three women from Mexico used a GPS system to navigate their way to an
Embassy Suites in Bellevue's Eastgate area. They were in town for a Costco
convention, and when driving back to the Embassy Suites in their Mercedes SUV
around midnight, they turned onto Interstate 90 West instead of East, and made
a turn off Bellevue Way Southeast. They were then led down the Sweyolocken boat
ramp into Mercer Slough. The vehicle sank, but the passengers got away safely
and slightly drenched.

Another user led astray was Paul Unwin, an avid GPS user from Seattle. When
traveling to a stargazing party in a desert outside Tucson, Arizona, the GPS
led him 10 to 15 miles down a strange and rough road with cacti lying across
the path.

While a GPS system can be blamed for certain mishaps, there are other occasions
where the driver is too busy looking at the system instead of paying attention
to the road. For instance, a charter bus driver crashed into a bridge in
Seattle's Washington Park Arboretum while using a GPS in April 2008. The bus
driver failed to see the flashing yellow lights and the signs indicating the
low bridge down the road, and 20 students from the Garfield High School softball
team were hospitalized.

Carly Baltes of Garmin International further expressed driver responsibility,
saying that GPS units cannot be blamed. She also pointed out that manuals tell
drivers not to plug new coordinates in while driving, which could be a fatal
distraction.

"GPS devices provide route suggestions," said Baltes. "They do
not cause drivers to make driving decisions."

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quote: Washington has had many GPS-related issues in the recent past. For instance, three women from Mexico used a GPS system to navigate their way to an Embassy Suites in Bellevue's Eastgate area. They were in town for a Costco convention, and when driving back to the Embassy Suites in their Mercedes SUV around midnight, they turned onto Interstate 90 West instead of East, and made a turn off Bellevue Way Southeast. They were then led down the Sweyolocken boat ramp into Mercer Slough. The vehicle sank, but the passengers got away safely and slightly drenched.

While there's a chance the GPS unit gave them bad directions, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the women simply failed to follow directions properly at practically every turn.

I have seen my girlfriend's Garmin GPS make mistakes. The audio sometimes says to "turn left" when the map clearly shows a right turn, and vice versa. Either way, it is the driver's responsibility to pay attention to the road and know where you are going; the GPS itself should only be used as an aid.

Exactly. No one would ignore roadsigns, oncoming traffic and the giant lake right in front of them if they were trying to follow a paper map, it's incomprehensible to me why people then seem to think that GPS units are incapable of errors. Someone who ignores the signs and obvious traffic flows to turn the wrong way onto an interstate just because their GPS says so should lose their license.

People need to stop blindly following these GPS directions (much like sheeple follow Apple, sorry it was to perfect) and use some sense. If the directions say to get on the interstate and you know you don't have to don't get on, it will simply recalculate. It is merely suggesting you go that way. It doesn't mean you have to go that way.

The real problem is simply that nobody researches their route. They literally enter a destination and follow the prompts, without ever looking at the destination itself let alone the street names they'll inevitably travel...

I remember learning to read a map in third grade. It seems like they don't teach that anymore.

Teach how to read a map...hell they barely teach math skills anymore. They teach how to use a calculator lol. But what I do is use Google Maps and view it on my computer before I leave so I have an idea of street names. And then make sure the names are familiar when I get close to my destination.

And they were from the Costco Convention, traveling at Midnight, bet there was Alcohol involved even if it wore off by the time they reported the incident.Even in the absence of alcohol I bet they were up at dawn and still out at midnight. Meaning they were exhausted and not thinking clearly.

I have an area where that occurs and its because they took out the light and put in a jug handle to handle the volume of traffic. Updated maps should help that or contact them they are good to make updates where there are problems.

The one I ran into is a town about 30 mins away tried to direct me to make a left turn where the signs indicate no left turn off the road I was on. I went straight because ROAD SIGNS > GPS SUGGESTIONS. These people would have turned regardless of the signs.

At least on mid/upper range models (I haven't looked at cheapos) lifetime maps have become a $10ish extra at purchase time option. My luck being what it was, I bought from the last generation prior to it being offered.

I ran into something similar to what the guy in Tuscon encountered with my tomtom recently. A few friends and I rented a vacation house in a ski resort area for a weekend get together, and it didn't differentiate between the two lane main roads in the area and the 1.5 lane guard railless ones that wound their way along the steeper parts of the mountain side.

Not realizing that in advance made my initial arrival much more interesting than it needed to be, and having to spend a few minutes editing every route it suggested, or ignoring it giving bad directions was rather annoying the rest of the weekend.

This was covered in the news, and GPS or not, I truly don't understand how these woman pulled this off.

They didn't merely drive off a cliff or ledge into a swamp, they drove straight off an angled boat launch. That most likely means they were travelling quite fast and made little or not attempt to stop as most launches are quick angled and allow your tires to enter several feet into the water. (especially for a truck or SUV)..

Here is a picture either before its almost submerged or while they are pulling it out..

I agree there is a high probability of user error. And even if the device does generate wrong directions, the user is still partly to blame for trusting the direction unconditionally. Always have some knowledge of the route prior to departing, even if you are using a GPS!

With that said, I have found an interesting and reproducible bug on my Magellan 1412 unit. If you are on a highway that has staggered left and right exits, and the route says to stay on the highway, after passing about the third left exit it gets confused and starts announcing every subsequent exit as "exit to stay on route ##". The only way I have found to make it recover is to cancel and restart the route. Mostly just annoying, because if you know the road or watch the signs you will know it's wrong. Actually, I've only seen it happen on Rt84 through CT. It may actually be an issue with the map data in that area and not a systematic bug with left exits.

"Turn left here" is a direction, not a suggestion. However, I do find it scarey that people are not confident enough in their own reality to realize you should not turn onto a river/slough in a car.....

Or this is Skynet's limited capacity at present killing or injuring people a couple at a time. Baby steps instead of full on nuclear holocaust. And the genius part is you're all fooled while Skynet has time to grow!

The imperative mood can be used for commands or suggestions. For instance, in the following dialog, the imperative is used for what is in reality a suggestion:

A: "I'm going to try out that new Indian restaurant."B: "Don't go there; the food's awful."

Since social status has a lot to do with whether an imperative phrase is interpreted as a command or suggestion, I assume you place yourself below machines. I agree - I for one welcome our new computer overlords.

While my GPS helps out more often than not, when it fails it does so well. Often my GPS will speak one thing, but display another - usually stating to make a left but showing a right turn, and it's the "safer" voice that always gets it wrong when this conflict occurs. And I'm on my third unit, with past units having safety & accuracy problems as well - though they do seem to keep their preferred method of insanity unique so far.

One time I accidentally threw my GPS out the window. I took it from the dash, holding it by the mount, and shook it at the open window, telling it "if you don't quit screwing with me like this I'm going to throw you out the window!". Well, it fell off the mount and went out the window anyway. $100=TOILET, but I think it learned its lesson (as did I).

Government regulation. We must regulate Garmin, Tom Tom and Magellan so that only government-approved directions are used. Since we know that the government is infallible, we don't ever have to worry about wrong directions.

Due to the increased administrative costs, a GPS tax will be necessary. The cost of this fee is TBD.

I've got a street address - two problems... my street dead ends but continues after a gap of several blocks (canyons) and the cross street also dead ends in another canyon. Sometimes folks end up on the wrong side of the larger canyon... calling for help.

My GPS has led me into parking lots instead of roads. It has tried to have me go in circles. Sometimes it takes twisting country roads that are definitely not more efficient, even at the maximum posted speeds.